


A New Duel Disk

by snapdragonpop007



Series: what's in a family [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Children, Duel Monsters, Established Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto, Family Fluff, Jaden is Kaiba and Joey's kid, M/M, Married Couple, Minor Leon von Schroeder/Kaiba Mokuba, it'll give you cavaties, this is so sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24010486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapdragonpop007/pseuds/snapdragonpop007
Summary: “What are ya workin’ on?”“A duel disk,” Kaiba set the screwdriver down, then the duel disk, both with an equal gentleness. “For Jaden.”
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Series: what's in a family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731676
Comments: 5
Kudos: 148





	A New Duel Disk

“What are ya workin’ on?”

Kaiba hadn’t heard Joey come into the workshop. He didn’t jump--because Seto Kaiba did _not_ jump--but his heart skipped a beat or two. 

Not that he would ever admit that. 

“A duel disk,” Kaiba set the screwdriver down, then the duel disk, both with an equal gentleness. “For Jaden.” 

Joey huffed out a quiet laugh, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. He was in a paint stained t-shirt and ratty old jeans with his hair tied back and a few splashes of bright red paint on his cheek. 

He didn’t enter, and Kaiba suspected it was as much because Jaden’s nap time was about to end as it was because of the still wet paint on Joey’s skin and clothing. 

Jaden himself wasn’t allowed in the workshop--because while Kaiba may be meticulous about other areas in his life, his workshop failed to reflect that neatness and cleanness. A rule like that, however, wasn’t going to stop the four year old from finding either of them and latching onto their leg like a vice. 

A quick glance at the clock confirmed Kaiba’s theory, so he crossed the room to Joey instead. 

“You’re a big ‘ol softy, ya know that?” Joey tilted his head, accepting Kaiba’s kiss with a happy hum. 

“You tell me that quite often.” Kaiba agreed, lifting a hand to brush back a piece of hair that had escaped the hairband Joey was using to keep the shorter pieces out of his face. 

Jaden had been getting more into dueling lately. He had always been into dueling, but now he was cobbling together a deck from the cards Joey brought him from tournaments and the spare cards Grandpa had lying around the shop. They had to implement a _no duel monster cards at the dinner table_ rule, which was honestly something Kaiba had never thought he would have to do. Jaden had also been wanting to use a duel disk, but Joey had been worried that the force and reverberations would be a bit too much for the four year old, and Kaiba couldn’t really argue with it.

The original duel disks had been designed with adults in mind, not for his hyperactive soon to be five year old son. 

So, Kaiba decided to work on a duel disk that absorbed the shockwaves more than the current model. He could put it on the market later, but for now it would be for Jaden and Jaden only. 

And with Jaden’s birthday coming up, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. 

“I was going to make it a birthday present,” Kaiba mumbled. “So don’t tell him.” 

“I would never.” Joey grinned. It was bright and lopsided and Kaiba had an awful urge to kiss it away. “He’s gonna lose his shit, ya know that, righ’?” 

Kaiba was well aware of that, but instead of commenting on it he asked his husband why he was covered in paint.

“Oh--” Joey looked down at himself. There were new paint stains on his shirt as well as his pants, and as Kaiba looked a little closer he could see that a glob of purple paint had made it to Joey’s hip. “--Jaden was workin’ on Mokuba’s birthday present. He wanted to paint him a family picture.” 

Kaiba’s own present to his brother consisted of a paid week long trip to France for him and Leon, as well as a case of Mokuba’s favorite melon soda. 

“He’s very excited to give it to him.” Joey continued.

“And I’m sure Mokuba will be just as excited to receive it.” Kaiba answered. 

Joey bit back a laugh, then gently tugged Kaiba out of the workshop. “Why don’t ya come sit with me for a bit. You’ve been in here all day and I know Jaden is gonna come lookin’ for ya when he wakes up.” 

Kaiba went willingly, and it wasn’t even a few seconds later when Jaden came down the hall with his Kuriboh plushie held firmly in his hand and hair still damp from his earlier bath. 

\--

Mokuba did, in fact, love his present from Jaden, and he hung it up right in the living room so everyone could see it. 

Jaden had crammed just about everyone in there--Yugi, Serenity and Mr. Moto had all made the cut, along with Tristian and Tea. Even Leon was there, squished between Mokuba and Serenity. When Leon had asked about it Jaden had answered _it’s because you kiss Uncle Mokie all the time, and Uncle Mokie says that means your family._

Both Mokuba and Leon flushed bright red while Kaiba cackled. 

“Never stop bein’ you, kiddo.” Joey scooped Jaden up and kissed his temple, much to Jaden’s confusion. 

Leon and Mokuba headed out on their flight the next morning, still a little tipsy from the drinking they had done the night before. Kaiba had been given the duty of dropping them off, as well as the unpleasantness of having to sit and converse with Zigfried as they sent the two off. 

The only upside to it was that Jaden had been there as well, because he had wanted to see Mokuba off and make him promise to come back. 

Kaiba did enjoy watching a five year old stand in the middle of an airport, demanding that a twenty year old pinky promise to come back home and bring back chocolate while he was at it. Kaiba had absolutely taken a video of it and sent it to Joey, who had still been asleep when they had left the house. 

Then they sent everyone off, Kaiba scooped Jaden back up, gave a stiff goodbye to Zigfried, and bought Jaden hot chocolate and a coffee for himself on the way back home. 

\--

Yugi came back from Egypt a few days before Jaden’s birthday, and before he could swing by the shop to drop his bags off and say hello to his grandfather Kaiba scooped him up and rushed him off to the Kaiba Corp building. 

“I need you to test something for me.” he said.

Yugi blinked slowly at him. His hair was tied back, his skin a little more tanned than the last time Kaiba saw him, and his ears were pierced with little black studs. 

That was new. 

“What am I testing?” Yugi happily accepted his fate, and really, that spoke more to Kaiba’s tendency to kidnap Yugi than it did to Yugi’s willingness to help people. 

“A duel disk.” Kaiba answered, flicking on the blinker as he switched lanes. “It’s for Jaden, and you’re the only one I know who’s actually small enough for it to fit.” 

“Normally I would take offense to that, but because it’s for Jaden it’s adorable.” Yugi was smiling. 

“Shut up.” Kaiba said. 

Yugi laughed. 

\--

The duel disk worked just fine, and Kaiba swung by the house so Joey and Jaden could say hello to Yugi before taking him back to the shop. 

\--

On the day of his birthday, Jaden woke up Kaiba and Joey. 

He wasn’t graceful with it--he jumped into their bed and climbed over Joey to squish himself in between them, his Kuriboh plushie smothering Kaiba for a moment before he moved it just a hair to the left of his face. 

Still, Kaiba found himself spitting out loose hair from the plushie. 

“Wha’ are ya doin’, kiddo?” Joey tugged Jaden to his side while Kaiba sat up and spit out hair. 

“It’s my birthday.” Jaden whispered. 

“Really?” Joey asked. “Who said?”

Jaden giggled. “You did, dad!” 

“I did?” then Joey rolled off the bed with a laughing Jaden still in his hold, taking off down the hall and to the kitchen and leaving Kaiba in bed with the plush Kuriboh. 

Kaiba looked at it, sighed, then picked it up and followed after. 

Everyone came by a few hours after they finished breakfast. Not many people came by--Yugi and his grandpa did, as did Serenity and Leon, but everyone else couldn’t make it. Tea and Mai were still in America and Tristian was on the other side of the country. Tea and Mai called to offer Jaden birthday wishes and the promise of a present being on the way, and Tristian called to promise that he would stop by in a few days.

Jaden didn’t mind, and he happily chatted with them until he had to hang up. 

Then Joey dished out the cake he had baked this morning, and Jaden very quickly scarfed his piece down so he could get to his presents faster. 

“Patience is a virtue, little Slifer,” Yugi lifted Jaden into his lap, but still handed him the little wrapped box he had been holding. Kaiba had no idea what was in the box--he didn’t know anything about the present except it was from both Yugi and his grandpa. Joey, however, was well aware of what it was and he had told Kaiba that it might just rival the duel disk.

Kaiba doubted it. 

Jaden looked to Joey and Kaiba for permission to open it, then tore off the paper at Joey’s little nod. He was much more gentle in taking the lid off the box, then his eyes went wide and his mouth opened in a gasp.

“Woah!” Jaden pulled out a little stack of duel monsters cards. Then he jumped off Yugi’s lap and ran across the living room to jump into Kaiba’s. Kaiba shot his arm out to hook around Jaden’s waist to keep him from tumbling back off. “Otosan, look!” 

Jaden fanned out the cards so Kaiba could see. 

There were a few spell and trap cards and several monsters from the new Elemental HERO line Pegasus had just released. Kaiba wasn’t even aware they were available to the public yet. In fact he _knew_ they were not available to the public yet because Pegasus had just sent him the prototypes to test. 

Kaiba looked up. 

Yugi was grinning.

“I pulled a couple strings.” Yugi said. 

This _might_ beat the duel disk. 

“Your deck is going to be pretty hard to beat with those in there,” Kaiba said. 

“I know!” Jaden craned his head back to look up at Kaiba. He was grinning, and Kaiba lifted a hand to thumb away a fleck of frosting on his cheek. “Will you duel me later?” 

“Of course I will.” Kaiba pressed a quick kiss to Jaden’s temple, then let go so he could run back and thank Yugi and Grandpa. 

“Pretty tough to beat that,” Joey suddenly appeared behind the chair, slinking his arms around Kaiba’s shoulders and dropping his chin on the top of his head. He still smelled like the sweet cake batter he had made this morning. “Huh, babe?” 

“I’ll beat it.” Kaiba said.

Joey laughed. 

Mokuba and Leon got Jaden a very large assortment of his favorite candy and had subsequently ignored the glare Kaiba threw their way, and Serenity had gifted him with a Red Eyes and Blue Eyes plushie and an offer to patch up his Kuriboh if he needed it, and Joey had slipped Jaden some extra money which did not so much as go unnoticed by Kaiba as it was that he didn’t particularly care. 

“You have to be careful with this one, okay?” Kaiba had moved to sit on the floor with Jaden so he could supervise the opening of the duel disk. Everyone else was splayed across the couches, but Joey slid down to the floor to sit next to them. 

Jaden nodded very seriously, then very carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. 

Any and all carefulness he was using, however, went out the window when he saw the image on the box. He was far enough into unwrapping it that it didn’t get too jostled around, at least. 

“You got me a duel disk?” Jaden looked up at Kaiba with wide eyes. 

“I _made_ you a duel disk.” Kaiba corrected, because he wouldn’t be outdone in gift giving to his own son. 

Jaden threw himself at Kaiba in a hug, then immediately ran upstairs to go grab the rest of his deck. 

“You made him a duel disk?” Yugi was grinning. 

“I made him a safer one than the current model.” Kaiba leaned back on his palms. How far he had fallen, to willingly be sitting on a floor. It didn’t matter that he was sitting with his son and husband. “And I’ve been thinking about sending them to the academy--it’s a lot safer than the current model they have.” 

Yugi blinked slowly. “Joey was right--you have gotten soft.” 

Kaiba opened his mouth to retort, but then Jaden was coming back down the stairs and asking him to help him work on his deck, and it wasn’t like Kaiba was just going to say no to him. So Kaiba diverted all his attention to Jaden and helped him lay all his cards out on the floor. 

Joey huffed out a laugh, kissed Kaiba’s cheek, then roaped Yugi and Serenity into helping him clean up the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> I made Mokuba and Leon a thing mostly because I couldn't stop laughing at the idea of Kaiba and Zigfried having to live with the knowledge that they are/and or will be brother in laws. I've also had kind of a shitty day so I mostly wrote this just to make me feel better.
> 
> I have a lot more of this parent AU lined up, so stay in tune my dudes

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Family Man](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24964765) by [Elexica](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elexica/pseuds/Elexica)




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